ATLANTA -- The murder conviction and life sentence of a Suwanee man who killed his girlfriend and burned her body in 2007 was upheld by the Georgia Supreme Court on Monday.

Police said David Robert Norton shot his girlfriend, Amy Lee Ayer, on Oct. 30, 2007 in the back of the head, and attempted to burn down her Lawrenceville home while her body was in an upstairs bedroom. Norton was arrested at a Days Inn Suites on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Norcross less than 24 hours after authorities found the woman's body.

Her teenage sons came from school and found the 3040 Sentinel Parkway house ablaze and called police, investigators said at the time.

Norton was indicted on seven charges, including aggravated assault, firearms charges and attempting to conceal another person's death.

Norton reportedly worked as a graphic designer for an automotive marketing company in Atlanta.